Medical Certificate in France: Online Doctor's Note, Same-Day, from €39.99

France Legal Snapshot: Sick Leave / Arrêt de Travail

Note on teleconsultation reimbursement: Since 1 July 2025, arrêts de travail issued through a first-intention teleconsultation, meaning a consultation with a doctor who is not your usual or regular physician, have generally not been reimbursed as indemnités journalières (IJ, the daily sick-pay allowance) by Assurance Maladie. This is a reimbursement-eligibility nuance, not a validity issue: the certificate itself remains a legitimate arrêt de travail either way. Always check current Assurance Maladie rules on IJ eligibility before relying on reimbursement for a specific case.

France's approach differs from many other countries. Employees who fall ill do not get a grace period to self-certify a short absence before any paperwork is needed: the requirement for a doctor's arrêt de travail generally begins on day one, whether the absence turns out to be a single day or several weeks. This makes seeing a doctor early important: without a validly issued arrêt de travail, an absence may not be properly justified to an employer, and it may not be eligible for sick-pay processing through CPAM.

Teleconsultation plays a growing role in how arrêts de travail are issued in France, particularly for common, short-duration illnesses. The rules generally distinguish between a teleconsultation with your usual, regular doctor (médecin traitant) and a first-intention teleconsultation with a doctor you have not consulted before. First-intention teleconsultation certificates are typically limited to an initial period of around 3 days; a longer arrêt, or a renewal beyond that window, generally needs a follow-up assessment, which can itself take place online or in person depending on the platform and the doctor's clinical judgement of your case.

Employers in France are generally entitled to expect an arrêt de travail within a reasonable time, and many internal HR policies or collective bargaining agreements set out their own house rules for notifying a manager, separate from the 48-hour legal window for sending the relevant parts to CPAM and your employer. Treat the 48-hour window as a practical deadline rather than a formality: submitting late can, in some cases, delay sick-pay processing or prompt a reminder from CPAM.

Because an arrêt de travail contains sensitive health data, RGPD principles generally apply to how it is collected, stored, and transmitted, including by any online service involved in producing or delivering the document. In practice, this means your health information should be accessible only to the reviewing doctor and to you, with clear limits on retention and no sharing with employers or third parties beyond what the certificate itself needs to convey.

An arrêt de travail issued by a licensed physician following a genuine consultation is generally treated the same by employers whether it was obtained online or in person, since French rules focus on how the consultation was conducted rather than the channel used to deliver the document. Sources: Assurance Maladie, Service-Public.fr. Last reviewed July 2026: always confirm current rules before relying on them for a specific case.

1. 1

   Complete assessment

   3-5 minutes. Select your certificate type, confirm France as your country, and answer relevant health questions about your symptoms, the absence or activity involved, and any relevant medical history. No payment is taken at this stage.

2. 2

   A doctor registered to assess cases in France reviews

   Your case is reviewed against French requirements (including, for sick leave, whether a first-intention teleconsultation limit applies), generally during business hours Monday-Friday. The doctor may request more information, such as clarifying symptoms or duration, before deciding.

3. 3

   Receive your PDF

   Emailed same day, usually within 30 minutes of approval, carrying the doctor's credentials and a verification reference so employers, clubs, or airlines can confirm authenticity independently.

Every price below includes the doctor's genuine review of your case, your PDF certificate with certificate verification, and same-day delivery by email; there is no separate consultation fee layered on top.

Private in-person doctor visit costs are a typical range reported for France and vary by location, provider, and whether the visit is reimbursed by Assurance Maladie. Online certificates from GetMedicalCertificate are charged as a flat, all-inclusive fee regardless of your own reimbursement eligibility.

The 1 July 2025 change to indemnités journalières (IJ) reimbursement for first-intention teleconsultation arrêts de travail applies across the French market generally, not to any single provider. Confirm current Assurance Maladie eligibility rules before relying on reimbursement for your situation.

Both Medadom and Qare are genuine, established teleconsultation services used widely in France, and either can be a reasonable option if you primarily need a single arrêt de travail through an existing care relationship. Our service is built specifically around offering all certificate types in one place, with consistent certificate verification across every certificate type, rather than functioning as a general teleconsultation platform where a sick-leave certificate is one of several possible outcomes of a broader consultation.

Every France certificate is reviewed by a doctor registered to assess cases in France. A clinician will only issue a certificate after assessing your case and if it is clinically appropriate to do so; if not, you receive a full refund. Every consultation is a genuine clinical review, not an automatic or instant form-fill.

Nearby countries

• Belgium
• Switzerland
• Spain